THE HISTORY
The idea of building a residential complex on the bank of the Sava river, within the area of the Bežanija village was first introduced in 1962. Three years later, a yugoslav contest for the construction of blocks 45 and 70 was announced. These blocks were conceived as two residential neighborhoods.
The urban designers for this block were architects Ivan Tepeš and Velimir Gredelj. The six-story residential skyscrapers were designed by architects Branko and Stana Aleksić, the eight-story skyscrapers by Mihajlo Čanak, and the 10-14 story skyscrapers by Grgur Popović. The two and four-story buildings were designed by archiect Rista Šekerinski.
The block was intended to house 16,000 inhabitants on a surface of 56 hectares. The construction of the block commenced in 1969, and it was finished in 1973, when the relocation of citizens into 66 residential objects with a total of 4542 apartments took place. The structures of these apartments were varied; with one-bedroom, one and a half-bedroom, two-bedroom, two and a half-bedroom, three-bedroom, three and a half-bedroom and four-bedroom layouts. 45 skyscrapers were built, 21 2-story and 4-story buildings, a primary school, a kindergarten, and later other objects as well.
In 1975, the construction of the "Branko Radičević" primary school was completed. The school was designed by architect Đorđo Vasiljević. The Bambi kindergarten was finished in 1978, according to the design of Olivera Jokanović Milićević.
The first two school years since the completion of the block, 1972-1974, classes took place in makeshift classrooms located on the ground floors of skyscrapers. These ground floors also housed the first stores and medical clinics.
View on OŠ Branko Radičević
The Branko Radičević school was one of the most modern schools in the SFRY, built in the style of brutalism . The school consists of two square bases, the smaller one-story building was intended for students up to the 4th grade, whereas the larger two-story building was intended for 5th-8th graders. A long hallway, the so-called footbridge connected the two buildings and led to the school through 4 entrances. Two schoolyards reach and a playground were intended for ambient classes as well. The smaller schoolyard was bordered by wide, cascading concrete benches which enabled outdoors classes. The interior design was innovative, with an atrium and swimming pool intended for students. Cabinets, ceremonial halls, dining areas and classes were equipped with modern furniture, so classes in this school became a model for designing educational facilities in this period.
OŠ Branko Radicevic 1974. class I/6
The center of the block contained the so-called local community "Sava", which represented a specific form of local self-government during the time of self-governing socialism. Despite the community being formed in 1973, the building was only finished in 1977, when president Josip Broz Tito visited the block on May 14th of the same year. The architect who designed the building of the community was Miodrag Vukasović.
Local communities kept precise records of the demographic structure of the block, and the records from 1977 state that "17,500 citizens live in the block, of which 45% are employed." A third of the residents were under 27 years old, and only 840 pensioners lived there. According to these documents, 3200 residents were members of the LCY (League of Communists of Yugoslavia), a political organization which brought together followers of communism.
A library, post office, pharmacy and artisan shops were also located within the object. A sculpture called Bird or Rooster was erected in the vicinity of the local community in 1976. It was sculpted by Miroslav Sunajac, and its height with the pedestal is 385cm.
During the 1990sm Block 45 underwent changes which were a direct consequence of the politica and economic crisis of that period. These changes resulted in the unplanned construction of objects intended for commercial purposes. A ground floor complex of commercial stores which oftentimes changed their purposes, was constructed next to the promenade in the central zone. Today, most of these objects have been abandoned.
Alongside the Jurija Gagarina street, a shopping center, Enjub, was constructed. The state of this center is variable and often rundown. A parking service building that functions as a car wash was also built, as well as multiple residential objects.
Entry into 8-story building
THE DESIGN
Soliteri u Bloku 45
The block 45 is representative of late modernism, while some of the high-rises (six and eight-story buildings) were built with features of brutalism. The structure of block 45 implied the construction of residential objects which rose step by step from the bank of the Sava river to the Jurija Gagarina street, to ensure that residents could view the river and the sunny southern side. Thanks to this, the neighborhood was named "Sun Settlement", following the example of Le Corbusier's Radiant City.
The block is divided into the coastal southern part which contains two and four-story buildings, which form a complex of three buildings (shaped like the cyrillic letter П). The two-story buildings were placed in the immediate vicinity of the river, whereas the four-story ones were tucked away towards the central part of the block. The three-building block formed an atrium-like space which contained a playground for children, and a park.
The cascading rows of buildings formed a second part of the block with skyscrapers which are placed in rows according to their heights of 6, 8, 10, 12 and 14 floors.
In the 1980's, some of the first graffiti in the form of black-silver tags (signatures) started appearing in the block. Graffiti art remained widespread throughout the 1990's when some of the first graffiti groups were formed, and even today the block is home to some of the most interesting street art in Belgrade.
Left: Bob Rok from the comic "Alan Ford" graffiti umetnik Doctor Gi (1995.) right: rapper Mobb Deep, graffiti artists Juice i Kivi KC
